Front Row (L-R): Miles Asafo-Adjei, Max Groebe, Pete Reynolds, Ryan Wittman, Jon Jaques, Alex Tyler, Geoff Reeves, Andre Wilkins, Louis Dale, Chris Wroblewski.
Back Row (L-R): Student Manager Aaron Graham, Assistant Coach Woody Kampmann, Assistant Coach Kevin App, Athletic Trainer Marc Chamberlain, Team Doctor Bruce Greene, Errick Peck, Adam Wire, Eitan Chemerinski, Mark Coury, Aaron Osgood, Jeff Foote, Josh Figini, Anthony Gatlin, Pete Reynolds, Alex Hill, Assistant Coach Nat Graham, Faculty Adviser Greg Gary, Strength and Conditioning Coach Jay Andress, Team Chaplain David Jones, Head Coach Steve Donahue, Director of Basketball Operations James Huggins.
2009-10 Letter Winners: Miles Asafo-Adjei, Eitan Chemerinski, Mark Coury, Lou Dale, Josh Figini, Jeff Foote, Max Groebe, Jon Jaques, Pete McMillan, Aaron Osgood, Errick Peck, Geoff Reeves, Pete Reynolds, Alex Tyler, Andre Wilkins, Adam Wire, Ryan Wittman, Chris Wroblewski
Â
The 2009-10 Big Red
The 2009-10 Cornell men's basketball team captivated the nation en route to its third straight Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament appearance, becoming the first team for the Ivy to advance to the Sweet 16 since Penn in 1979. Led by head coach Steve Donahue, the charismatic group led by eight seniors charmed the country after upsetting nationally ranked Temple and Wisconsin in the first two rounds in Jacksonville, Fla. Cornell then headed up I-81 North to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse where it met No. 1 overall seed Kentucky, a team that featured seven eventual NBA players. Though the Big Red fell in its quest to advance to the Elite Eight, the memory of a packed Carrier Dome dressed in red and chanting for the "home" team will forever be part of the history of Cornell athletics. After the season, the Big Red settled in as the No. 17 team nationally in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
In all, three of Cornell's five losses were to teams ranked as No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament (Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse). The Big Red won the prestigious MSG Holiday Festival, defeated teams from the Atlantic 10 (La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, Temple), Big East (St. John's), Big Ten (Wisconsin) and SEC (Alabama). The team was dominant at home in front of the Newman Nation crowd (11-1), but also led the nation in wins away from home (18). It made its first appearance in the national top 25 poll in 59 years,
The team's 29 victories was an Ivy League record, as was its 326 3-pointers. The team set single-season school records in points (2,545), field goals (913), assists (543) and blocked shots (127). The Big Red's victory over St. John’s was Cornell’s first win over a Big East school since 1969, and its season-opening win at Alabama was the team’s first win over a school from the SEC since 1972. For his efforts, Donahue was named the Clair Bee Coach of the Year and the NABC District Coach of the Year. Senior Ryan Wittman graduated as the school's all-time scoring leader and was named the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and an AP honorable mention All-American, while Jeff Foote was a first-team All-Ivy pick and the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Louis Dale, the 2008-09 Ivy League Player of the Year, rounded out three Big Red players on the All-Ivy first team and established a school record for career assists.
